Content published before December 2016

This page highlights some of the current parliamentary material available on the press. This includes select committee reports, briefing papers on current legislation and other subjects produced by the parliamentary research services, and the latest Early Day Motions put down by MPs.

Commons Briefing Papers

Part 1 of the Leveson Inquiry into the press reported in 2012. Part 2, which has a wider remit, has yet to begin. What is the state of play on press regulation and what changes have been made to the law?

This note provides pointers to the developments since publication of the report. It does not attempt to summarise the complex arguments involved or differences between the various proposals for draft legislation that have been brought forward.

This note provides brief details about the ongoing inquiries and investigations associated with phone hacking and the various reports produced. It also gives details of the legislation regarding relevant offences and provides links to timelines of events.

This Note provides a brief overview of systems of press regulation in a number of foreign countries. Where possible, it details the sanctions available to the regulator in the event that a newspaper breaches a voluntary or statutory code of industry practice. If there is an established mechanism for the arbitration of press complaints, this is noted.

Following the discovery of widespread 'phone-hacking' by journalists at The News of the World and other British newspapers, the Prime Minister, David Cameron, established in July 2011 a multi-part inquiry into the culture, practices and ethics of the press. Lord Justice Leveson was appointed as Chairman of the Inquiry. The first part (or 'module'), which concluded its public hearings on 9 February 2012, concentrated on the relationship between the press and the public. Much of the material quoted in this Library Note comes from the evidence presented to this module (the first of four), but the Note will be updated periodically to take account of evidence presented at later modules.

The Government has decided to cancel three pilot schemes in favour of developing broadband infrastructure and promoting local TV stations. This comes at a time when local newspapers face competition from the internet and local authority newspapers and have difficulty in maintaining levels of funding from advertising.

This note explains the competition issues associated with newspaper and magazine distribution agreements including: whether the distribution agreements which restrict distribution territories are compatible with competition law; the decision to let the National Newspaper Code of Practice lapse; and the OFT's September 2009 decision not to refer the sector to the Competition Commission

Lords Library Notes

This Library briefing provides information on royal charters, outlining the Sovereign's prerogative power to grant them, and briefly describing their function. It also provides an overview of two examples of royal charters-the self-regulation of the press and the BBC-and discusses Parliament's role in their scrutiny.

This Library Note summarises a selection of the reaction and comment expressed immediately following the publication of the report of Lord Justice Leveson's Inquiry into the Culture, Practices and Ethics of the Press.

Glossary

Commons Briefing Papers (CBP) Papers providing in-depth and impartial analysis on every major piece of primary legislation and on other topics of public and parliamentary concern. Regular statistics papers are also published.

POSTnotes (POST PN) - proactive four-page policy briefings from the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology based on reviews of the research literature, interviews with stakeholders and peer review, commissioned by the POST Board

Lords Library Notes (LLN) - authored publications by the research section of the House of Lords Library that provide analysis of Bills, subjects for debate in the House and other issues of interest to Members.